Northern Vietnam hiking (with Hong Kong stopover)

[v1nce007]

A friend and I recently took a 10 day trip through Northern Vietnam, doing a lot of hiking and sightseeing as part of a group tour with Intrepid. Starting and finishing in Hanoi, and traveling up though the mountains of the north along the Chinese border. It was a great opportunity to get out into the countryside and away from the traditional tourist spots.



We also added on a two night trip to Hong Kong on the way.

I have covered the flights (Qantas business class) to and from HKG in a separate TR: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....nd-trip-photos/qf-j-bne-hkg-return-76625.html

 

[v1nce007]

Day 1

Arriving in Honk Kong in the evening, we caught the excellent Airport Express train to the city, and then took the complimentary shuttle bus to the hotel. This is an excellent service.

We were staying at the Novotel Century and had booked a twin share standard room. As I am a Gold Le Club member, we were able to use the premium line to bypass the large queue at check-in. My status was acknowledged at check-in, and I was told we were upgraded to a club floor room (although no access to the club itself), and we were provided with a few drink vouchers for the bar. Whilst the upgraded room was nice, we had been given a king bed rather than the twin beds we had booked. This happens to us surprisingly often when we travel together. It's not an issue for us to share (I am a straight man and she is a gay woman), but it's amazing how often hotels will allocate us one bed even though twin share has been requested.

The room was an OK size, and came with a nespresso machine with complimentary coffee pods, daily complimentary bottled water, and free wifi.

It's probably unfair of me, but I find it annoying to be upgraded to the club floor but denied access to the club. Every time we walked between the room and the elevator we were greeted by the club receptionist, but not permitted access. It's almost a tease

 

[v1nce007]

Day 2

Spent the day doing some of the usual tourist things (ferry to Kowloon, trip up the mountain on the peak tram), before heading back to the hotel in Wan Chai for our free Tsingtao beers (plus running up a small tab once the complimentary vouchers were used)


After getting changed we headed out to the Lan Kwai Fong district for the evening. It's such a happening place, buzzing with both locals and expats. We found a nice Mexican bar to watch all the action from with a few beers before heading across to JinJuu restaurant for dinner.

 

[RB]

Looking forward to reading more of Nthn Vietnam in particular

 

[v1nce007]

JinJuu is a modern Korean restaurant and we were able to sit at the bar overlooking the open kitchen and enjoyed a range of absolutely delicious dishes, as well as a few more beers of course.

 

[v1nce007]

Day 3

Back to the airport on the train, and an uneventful Jet* flight to Hanoi. I arranged a transfer with Intrepid to our hotel near the Old Quarter. The May De Ville City Centre II hotel was a comfortable 3star establishment with decent hot water, air conditioning, wifi, and a nice buffet breakfast included. We met up with our guide and the rest of our tour group in the late afternoon for a group meeting and then dinner together. The group consisted of our Vietnamese guide, myself and my friend (MEL and BNE), a mother and daughter from MEL, a solo traveller from Boston, a solo traveller from Switzerland, and the youngest member of our group was a solo traveller from Belgium who was originally born in Vietnam but adopted at birth and was taking her first trip back to Vietnam.

 

[v1nce007]

Day 4

Today we had a full day tour of Hanoi, starting in the morning with a visit to the tomb of Ho Chi Minh. The place was absolutely packed with tourists and school groups and the line to get in was huge, but was in the shade and moved constantly, so it didn't take long to get in. It was quite moving to see the body of "Uncle Ho" in such a grand setting.

We then had a look around government complex, visiting Ho Chi Minh's house and learning about the history. Our guide had a good amount of knowledge and was able to answer all of our questions. Afterwards we had a delicious lunch at a restaurant that provides hospitality training for disadvantaged Vietnamese youth. They prepared a variety of dishes for our group to share.

After lunch we did a walking tour of Hanoi. The temperature was hot enough to be uncomfortable, but it was so interesting to see all the narrow tree lined streets. Hanoi is a very busy city and everywhere you look it is very crowded. Crossing the roads is difficult due to the thousands of motorbikes everywhere, but once you have mastered the technique it becomes easy. Basically just start crossing in a straight line and walk at a consistent pace, the bikes will go around you.

For those that have been to Saigon, I would say that Hanoi is a little less busy and much more charming.

 

[v1nce007]

After the tour we had use of day rooms back at the hotel to relax in and have a shower. After diner at a restaurant near to the hotel, we were picked up and taken to the train station for our overnight train ride to Sapa.

The train left after 9pm and was pretty comfortable. Each compartment sleeps 4 (2x bunks), and has air conditioning, blankets/pillows, bottled water and snacks provided. There was wifi on board but it was pretty useless. It was a very comfortable and relaxing trip and I got a decent nights sleep.

Yours truly about to board


The sleeping compartment

 

[v1nce007]

Day 5


We were awoken early by the PA system which seems to play some sort of pledge of allegiance to the Communist Party. After getting out of bed we opened the curtains and I got my first look at the Vietnamese countryside. It was a really great experience sitting on a train looking out over the rice paddies in the early morning light covered in mist, with traditional Vietnamese music playing through the PA. It was like something out of a movie.

Upon arrival at the train station we were met by our mini bus driver who would stay with us for the rest of the trip. This guy was a legend; he could not speak any English except "hello" "good morning" etc, so he could only communicate with our guide, but he always made an effort to sit with us during meals, and throw the ball around with us when we had free time. He took such pride in his little bus, whenever he had a free moment he was cleaning out the rubbish or mopping the floor. We tipped him well at the end of the trip.

It was about an hour drive to the town of Sapa in the mountains. We checked into the Cat Cat View Hotel, which was simple but comfortable (no air conditioning but this was not required as the temperature in the mountains is quite comfortable), and had an amazing view:

 

[v1nce007]

After breakfast at the hotel (delicious omlets with French bread), we headed out for a hike to the Cat Cat Village, which is a traditional village of the Hmong hill tribe people. This is a fairly easy downhill hike (but what goes down must come up!), and is very touristy; there are market stalls all the way down which put me off a bit, but the scenery was gorgeous.







The walk back up to Sapa is a bit more of a challenge, and you can choose to get off the main path for more of an adventure (as I did):

 

[Major]

An interesting and unusual trip...great photos

 

[LadyC]

Rural Vietnam is beautiful. Look forward to reading more.

 

[njba]

but it's amazing how often hotels will allocate us one bed even though twin share has been requested.

It's interesting: I often think of the hospitality industry as being more opened minded generally and as such one that should not assume a particular configuration of people means a particular relationship.

A hotel I stay at for work frequently offers to 'upgrade' me from my 'executive' king room to a 'super executive' twin. I'm unable to figure out the value of a second bed for one person.

Actually, given how hot the hotel rooms often are, maybe I should take them up on it.

 

[v1nce007]

Day 6

Today we did a lot more hiking in the hills and villages around Sapa. Our guide hired a local Hmong woman to lead us on a hike to her village. This was well off the tourist trails and we waked through grazing land and rice paddies. The hiking around this area is hard going with lots of hills to go up and down, but the scenery is incredible and the effort is very rewarding. The Hmong woman spoke excellent English, having learnt from tourists, and she told us a lot about the life of the hill tribe people.







After returning to the hotel to shower and change, we went to a Hmong restaurant in Sapa town for dinner, where the staff insisted we try the tradional rice wine.

 

[v1nce007]

Day 7

Today we left Sapa heading for the region of Ha Giang. Driving time was about 7 hours in total, through winding mountainous roads. Many of the roads are in poor condition and there are precarious drops off the side. However the scenery was spectacular. I for one enjoy these sort of journeys and am happy to sit back and enjoy the scenery while listening to podcasts.



This area is popular with local Vietnamese tourists, but doesn't get a lot of Western visitors. This was particularly evident when we stopped for lunch in a small town along the way. No one at the local restaurant spoke English, but luckily our guide was able to assist with ordering a range of delicious dishes for the group to share. I became addicted to the stir fried morning glory throughout this trip.

 

[LadyC]

Having travelled a little in rural Central Vietnam, and experienced being the only westerners in the town, we had some very special and fun moments with the locals. And I agree, the morning glory is delicious!

 

[v1nce007]

Along the way we also made a stop at a fairly uninteresting local museum, and then at a traditional village where we were able to go into some houses and meet the locals. The village is situated within the mountains of Heaven’s Gate (Quan Ba pass).









After visiting the village we arrived at our resort in Ha Giang. This is a bizarre place. The resort is a brand new property, with modern and large villas spread around the grounds, which also contained zoo cages with wild animals?! None of the staff spoke any English, but they were all friendly and prepared a delicious meal for us at their open air restaurant. There really is nothing to do within walking distance of the resort, so we settled in at the bar to enjoy a few cheap beers for the rest of the evening.

 

[v1nce007]

Having travelled a little in rural Central Vietnam, and experienced being the only westerners in the town, we had some very special and fun moments with the locals. And I agree, the morning glory is delicious!

At a lot of the restaurants we stopped at, our group ended up clearing them out of their days supply of morning glory. We just kept asking for more until it was gone

 

[v1nce007]

Day 8

Today we travelled further through the mountains to the town of Dong Van, close to the very top of Vietnam near the Chinese border. We made a few stops along the way, including at a textile village, which is set up to assist those rescued from human trafficking.

 

[v1nce007]

We arrived at Dong Van in the late afternoon. Checked into our hotel, which was 2 star but comfortable enough, and then set about exploring the town.

Dong Van is a small but bustling town. It really feels like a frontier town; very dusty, a bit rough, definitely not catering to Western tourists. In fact our group seemed to be the only westerners in town. However it didn't feel unsafe at all. The only thing that made me a bit uncomfortable was that we had to leave our passports at the hotel reception as the border police needed to come and inspect them for some reason due to the proximity to China.



Prior to dinner most of the group went to check out the local market. My friend and I found a nice coffee shop with good wifi and cold cans of beer straight out of an eskie. For the first time on the trip it was goodbye to Hanoi Beer and hello to Saigon Larger



After dinner with the group at a local restaurant (traditional Vietnamese hotpots cooked at the table) we decided we would head back to the hotel to watch a movie. Knowing we didn't have a minibar we asked the restaurant if we could have half a dozen cans of Saigon to take-away. There are obviously no licensing laws here, as this was no problem at all